We’re in the midst of a terrible moment, 2023 has seen a rise in homophobic and transphobic hate crime that has become an even more serious threat to our community than usual. Since I launched The Pansy Project in 2005, we have never been far from this threat, a recent rise in the violence and severity of attacks and the atrocious vitriol of the British government has inspired me to mark some locations with pansies, once again. I will continue to update this page as I continue planting, If you would like me to plant a pansy for your own experience then let me know here. This series of plantings is self-funded and not supported by an organisation, so will be limited to London only for now, See below for the plantings made in Manchester, where I have marked the specific transphobic and homophobic comments of Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak.
The Pansy Project was born from my own experience of homophobia on the streets of Manchester in 2005. For the majority of the last two decades I have been using my artwork to raise awareness of the consistent and multiple ways that homophobia and transphobia has damaged our community. I have spoken with countless people around the world, hearing their experiences and listening to the real and painful impacts of this prejudice. From the most brutal violence to unthinking insult, The Pansy Project has remembered, and I have continued to learn.
“We do not pay them to wave flags at parades, to dance with drag queens” Suella Braverman, Houses of Parliament, London. Planted at the Houses of Parliament to protest the recent transphobic and homophobic vitriol of the Home Secretary, explore this particular story here, the above is just one quote I have found. I am planning a visit to Manchester to mark the specifically transphobic comments made by Braverman and Sunak at the Tory Party Conference soon.
Over the last few years those with power have chosen to use their platform to escalate misunderstanding and fear, they have chosen to scapegoat and ridicule, they have used their strength against the vulnerable. This came to a climax recently at the Tory Conference in Manchester, the birth place of The Pansy Project. I have walked those streets and experienced the daily impact of hate just metres from where Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak inexplicably fuelled the flames of misunderstanding and intolerance. They (and the jeering crowds) should be ashamed, though their smug little faces revealed a filthy pleasure in the success of their gambit, to distract the desperate and encourage them to coalesce around an enemy that does not exist.
“They come to the U.K, purport to be homosexual, in the effort to ‘game’ our system” – Suella Braverman, Conservative Party Headquarters, Matthew Parker Street, London. The comments made by Braverman were condemned by many LGBTQ+ organisations, her comments have been described as ‘dog whistle’ politics. More on the story here.
I have spent almost a generation planting pansies, despite evidence to the contrary, much of that time I have had some hope. I have continued to work in as many ways I can imagine to challenge the heteronormative system. Nearly twenty years after I began this project I’m feeling as afraid and vulnerable as I ever have, we are all under attack. We’re in danger, in a state of emergency. This is why I have got out my trowel and have began planting pansies again. The plantings that mark the transphobic and homophobic comments of the government above are in the current climate of abuse, the at least three violent attacks (in London) that have been reported by the press recently have impacted the safety of our community, especially the most vulnerable amongst us. Rather than sympathise, the government escalates, when the crimes marked below go unchallenged those that wish us harm are enabled.
“Stabbing!”, The Two Brewers, Clapham High Street, London. Marking the homophobically motivated stabbing of two gay men in August 2023 the people involved survived their attack and a person has been caught and charged with the crime, more coverage here.
“Arson Attack” Whitechapel High Street, London. This pansy marks an arson attack that happened in April 2023, aimed at two trans people and a gay man who shared a flat on Whitechapel High Street. The Metropolitan Police categorised the attack as a hate crime, the perpetrator was caught and is currently on bail. Explore the story here.
“Attacked!” Brixton High Street, London. In late August 2023, a couple heading home from Black Pride were treated in hospital after being subject to a homophobic attack while waiting at a bus stop in Brixton, south London. More on this story here.
“They followed me onto the platform, surrounded me, and threatened to push me onto the tracks in front of the train,” Kings Cross Station, London. Planted to mark the experience of TV personality Dan Harry, in October. 2023 he reported that a group of males verbally abused him and threatened to push him onto the tracks of an oncoming train at KIngs Cross Station. More on this story here.
The article linked above revealed that Dan Harry is helping to promote a new App created with Stonewall designed to encourage people who have experienced homophobia or transphobia, the App is linked here.
“Dan has since partnered with LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall as part of a campaign to encourage people to report LGBTQ+ hate crimes. This comes after a Home Office report found that only around 1 in 10 such crimes are reported. “In the face of rising hate crimes, I want to stand up for my community who are under attack every day,” Dan said in a separate news release. “What happened to me on the Tube platform … was not an isolated incident. For so many people in my community, it is so much worse.”
Manchester
I was lucky enough to be visiting a friend in Manchester and took the opportunity to plant the pansies marking the vitriol of the Tory Conference early in October 2023. Visiting the birthplace of The Pansy Project was thought provoking and somewhat depressing. As I had some pansies I thought I’d see if there were any other incidents I could mark. I was shocked to learn of a particularly violent attack that was reported by the Manchester Evening News in November 2022, marked below.
“We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be, they can’t. A man is a man and woman is a woman, that’s just common sense…” From Rishi Sunak’s Tory Conference speech at Manchester Central, Manchester.
The above and throughout The Pansy Project site is evidence (if it were needed) that the plight of the LGBTQ+ community continues, making the comments from Braverman and Sunak especially infuriating. It’s not just that what was said was incorrect, it is that they (and others) choose to direct attention to an already cruelly persecuted group. The trans population is tiny (estimated to be 250,000 people, just 0.05% of the England and Wales – story linked here) The jeering crowds were a foul display of hatred and intolerance of already vulnerable members of our community. Homophobia and transphobia are cruel bedfellows and it’s utterly disgusting that those in power would fuel hatred rather than encourage learning, tolerance and love. See the context of this pansy’s title at about 55 minutes in to the video below.
“If you don’t challenge this poison, things just get worse…” From Suella Bravermen, a quote from her speech at Conservative Party Conference, October 2023. Manchester Central, Manchester
The full speech is available above, I wouldn’t normally choose to link to The Telegraph, but perhaps unsurprisingly it’s the place where the whole speech is broadcast, scroll through to around 45 minutes to see the full context of Braverman’s vitriol and unkindness.
“Why are you wearing a girl’s jacket, you f****** f*****?” Charlotte Street, Manchester
More from the article in the Manchester Evening News here… Moments before he was assaulted on Charlotte Street in the city centre. At the time, police said the incident was being treated as a ‘homophobically-aggravated assault’.
Landscape view of “Why are you wearing a girl’s jacket, you f****** f*****?” Charlotte Street, Manchester
Speaking to the M.E.N, six months on from the ordeal, Morgan says he still worries about going out in public and getting the bus. “When I moved here, I had no friends, so started to try make friends online to go out and enjoy myself,” he said. “I used to come here a lot when I turned 18 and always felt safe, but on the night of me being attacked I had numerous people throw comments at me just because I was wearing something I felt comfortable in,” he said. “The night I was attacked was just an evening of misery. It happened before the clock even went to midnight, just because I was wearing a sparkly sequin jacket which I had always wanted to wear. “This man had thrown comments at me, and I am a firm believer you have to stick up for yourself. I’m not a fighter but your mouth can get you further than what your fists can, so I didn’t want to be an easy target, but this is what happened.”
I see my younger self in the demonstrators and activists that are about today, the new LGBTQ+ generation, folks with fresh anger and a new mission, I hope they do better than I have. I am a tired and lone planter of pansies with an old and trusty trowel. I am still angry and I still hurt, and I feel like I’m failing. Though despite this, I go on. There are many people I admire in the community, I follow many of them on Instagram a special shout-out to the T-Boys Club who staged a powerful and impressive protest this week in London. Image above from their Instagram, follow them here.
If you’d like to support The Pansy Project please do consider following my socials, sharing this page or visiting my store where a variety of conceptual merchandise celebrates The Pansy Project and my book Pansy Boy.
Below The Pansy Project Map, shows the individual pansies I have planted around the world since 2005, in the context of various festivals and exhibitions.
The Pansy Project 